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adventures

I’m so very happy that God does all sizes of miracles! The massive miracles, like healing from cancer or supernaturally providing a job or the forgiveness of a debt or the reconciliation of a long broken relationship. These kinds of massive miracles along with others seem to catch our attention & easily welcome our gratitude.
Let’s be mindful, as well, that the micro miracles are also magnificent! Let’s celebrate those times when the Holy Spirit gives us the self control to not shoot off our mouth. Perhaps you had a small miracle when your schedule went better than you planned. Or maybe it was miraculous that you bumped into someone coincidentally & it turned out to be a divine appointment.
Let’s be committed to give God praise for the micro & massive miracles that happen throughout each day!

This is a picture of South Park in Colorado. My son & I are grabbing a day over Christmas break to get some skiing / snowboarding & today I decided to try a new route to get up to the mountains & man was it GORGEOUS!! The views on the drive were entirely enchanting, serene & ethereal – almost like driving in a picture!

I’m really glad that I tried this new route even though there were some icy patches & a few parts were a little touch & go.

Seems like this could be a good mindset for starting out 2017! Let’s be determined to try some new stuff, even if some parts might be a little tricky to navigate. I find that often the rewards of new things can be better than the risks! Let’s GO!!

I recently went snowboarding with a friend who is a skier & has never skied with a snowboarder. We went to her home turf ski resort where I’ve never been, so it was a really fun adventure in “first times”. As I was fondly remembering this recent day, I thought about how I had absolutely no clue where I was nor what each run would be like. She knows this mountain so well, she could ski it blindfolded, at night in her sleep – ok, not quite but close.

Snowboarding with my friend was kind of like following the Holy Spirit in these ways:

total trust: I had to listen attentively to my friend to know where I should end up so we didn’t get separated

stay close: on several occasions, she had to wait for me & I needed to keep up my speed so that we could ride the lifts together

terrain park: I tried a beginner box & despite her instructions, I still biffed; so I need to keep trying to learn new terrain & ways to ride

enjoy the ride: I don’t have to know where I’m going to enjoy the company with whom i travel

fully committed: the level of my enjoyment is proportionate to my level of commitment; low commitment to the day would have made a low quality / quantity of pleasure & enjoyment

Following the Holy Spirit is a uniquely amazing adventure – so LETS GO!! This book could help you to enjoy the adventure: Heavenly Help 🙂

I recently went snowboarding with a friend who is a skier & has never skied with a snowboarder. We went to her home turf ski resort where I’ve never been, so it was a really fun adventure in “first times”. As I was fondly remembering this recent day, I thought about how I had absolutely no clue where I was nor what each run would be like. She knows this mountain so well, she could ski it blindfolded, at night in her sleep – ok, not quite but close.

Snowboarding with my friend was kind of like following the Holy Spirit in these ways:

total trust: I had to listen attentively to my friend to know where I should end up so we didn’t get separated

stay close: on several occasions, she had to wait for me & I needed to keep up my speed so that we could ride the lifts together

terrain park: I tried a beginner box & despite her instructions, I still biffed; so I need to keep trying to learn new terrain & ways to ride

enjoy the ride: I don’t have to know where I’m going to enjoy the company with whom i travel

fully committed: the level of my enjoyment is proportionate to my level of commitment; low commitment to the day would have made a low quality / quantity of pleasure & enjoyment

Following the Holy Spirit is a uniquely amazing adventure – so LETS GO!! This book could help you to enjoy the adventure: Heavenly Help 🙂

When my kids were very little, they trained me to get better at being prepared. Truth be known, I’ll often get super excited about something & throw preparation out the window for the sheer pleasure of adventure – but with babies & toddlers, this strategy backfires more often than not. A mom with babies & toddlers has to be prepared for all kinds of unexpected twists, most of which you probably don’t want to read about ,)

So my kids have helped me with that whole being prepared concept, mostly.

When it comes to Jesus, it’s also important to be prepared and here are a few helpful thoughts on what that might look like. Be prepared:

to love well – far beyond your natural limits, letting the love of God be poured out in your heart through the work of the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5)

When I was growing up, my dad didn’t really like surprises, even if they were pleasant. I remember a few occasions where I surprised him with something good & while he was grateful for me being thoughtful, it still wasn’t really appreciated because it was a surprise. In his mind, surprises weren’t good.

In my mind, however, I generally like surprises because I think of them as adventures & an adventure is almost always high grade fun for me.

Something that always helps me with surprises, whether they’re good of bad, is that nothing surprises God. Because God is all-knowling, there’s no surprise that can catch God off guard. Furthermore, God doesn’t make a Plan B when something seems to go wrong.

We can trust that nothing catches God by surprise & that God loves us far more than we could ever comprehend. These two truths work great rest into my heart & I hope into your heart as well over this weekend 🙂

One time when I was in China back in the dark ages, I had a really cool opportunity to go para-gliding! To make a long story short, when I ran off the cliff to catch some wind & I caught what’s known as a thermal. It was like zipping up an elevator shaft, crazy fast!!!!! At first, I thought I should let go of the para-glider thing & then I quickly thought that was a stupid idea & I should hold of for the ride & see how far up I could go. Needless to say, it was very unnerving at first, but after I decided to settle in for the ride, the whole thing became like a religious experience & very powerful!

In a similar way, it seems to me that God is always inviting us to walk in higher ways (without drugs) but maybe we shirk from walking in these higher levels because we are afraid of heights, new experiences or maybe even afraid of falling or failing. Here are a few encouraging points to consider about heights & spires:

Jesus keeps life spicy 🙂
I find that when I put my trust in Jesus more than myself, life gets very adventurous & I love me lots of adventure & spice! Here are some things to consider for spicy & adventurous living:
*being in control can often sabotage many exciting adventures
*in Jesus, sweet & spice blend to be very nice
*spicy food, in contrast to bland food, can often grab our attention & cause us to more present in any given moment – Jesus isn’t bland
*keep your relationship with Jesus full of love, zest & spice 🙂
*on this Valentines weekend, take a moment to consider how you can spice up your love for Jesus – maybe even go to church this weekend! ,)

“Are you telling me that at 28 years old, you never want to get better than you are today?” One time I had a coaching opportunity for a friend who was doing some preaching. I made them practice all of their sermon in front of me in the room where they would be giving the sermon. This person felt kind of silly going through their entire sermon in front of just one person, in a big empty room. Nevertheless, this was a really good exercise and opportunity to practice & grow, even though they felt awkward.

So here’s my encouragement: try new things, regardless of your agility. Ultimately, when I try new things, I get to lean into the Holy Spirit for help & that’s the best thing I could ever do in my life on a consistent basis! 🙂

We all have busy lives & I genuinely want to do a good job being a mom, wife, encourager & human. So this afternoon, I accidentally double booked myself, again. I hate it when I do this, but when I got in the middle of this potential train wreck, the Holy Spirit came through, again to bail me out. The conflicting appointments got sorted out with a minimum of consternation & no injuries 🙂
The Holy Spirit reminds me yet again, that I earnestly need His help, maybe the most when I’m totally clueless. He swoops into my life & “saves the day” yet again 😀